25 Days of Drabble
by snowspell
Summary: 25 unrelated short stories based on word prompts. Will range through many fandoms including: Sherlock, Avengers, Harry Potter and X-men. This is a story exchange with PrismIris. :-)
1. Accusation: sherlock Molly & John

Accusation

Sherlock

Molly flinched as the light by her living room chair flickered on revealing a man waiting there. She sighed in relief as she realized it was only John.

"John, you gave me such a fright," she said as she put her groceries down on the kitchen counter and joined him in the living room.

John didn't smile back at her, but after Sherlock's death he didn't smile much. So that wasn't so very surprising. "Sorry Mol. I've just been back to the flat."

Molly made a sympathetic sound. Sherlock's loss had been very hard on John. So hard that he hadn't been back to the flat they shared in over two months. "Where you okay?" she asked quietly.

"Yah, I was actually. I got through a lot of his things. Sorting, you know. Thought I'd pop over to talk afterward. Hope you don't mind that I let myself in."

"No of course not. You know you can come over any time."

John nodded, but his face stayed impassive. Molly was beginning to worry. Even now this wasn't like the normally affable doctor.

"I found this while I was here," he said quietly and dropped something on the coffee table between them. It made a metallic clink as it hit the wooden surface.

Molly stared at the mens watch that lay before her. It's distinctive white face and roman numerals. She felt the blood drain from her face at the implied accusation.

John shook his head looking sad and weary and terribly disappointed.

"You know, I expect this from him. Sherlock was..._is_ absolute rubbish at treating people right. But not you Molly. You always put others first. You never hurt anybody, did you?"

"John, I can-"

"No Molly, you can't. You have loved him the whole time I've known you. You'd give up anything for him, you proved that. I just hope he endeavors to deserve you," He stood and walked to the door. He stopped at the door and spoke without turning around, "I don't think I'll be coming around again, so goodbye Molly. Tell Sherlock to ring me when he can." With that final statement, John left the flat.

Molly felt her hands begin to shake as silent tears ran down her face. She had never meant to hurt John but even with the grief she felt at wounding him, she knew she would not have acted any differently. Sherlock was her world. Always had been.


	2. Beginning: Avengers Steve x Darcy

Beginning

Steve looked out the window at the swirling snow falling on Manhattan. So much had changed in the last 70 years but this hadn't. He liked it. Seeing the things that were still the same from when he had been just a guy from Brooklyn.

"Hey Cap! Come back over and help us with the merry making!" Tony called.

The rest of the Avengers were in the process of bedecking the sleek modern living room with Christmas decorations. Natasha was standing by the piano singing Silent Night in Russian while Bruce accompanied her. Jane's tinkling laugh floated out from the Christmas tree where she and Darcy were showing Thor how to put tinsel on the tree. Pepper was curled up in a comfy chair watching the merriment with a fond smile. Her deep green sweater stretched across her now full belly. Steve smiled a bit thinking about the baby that was due in February. Tony had asked him to be the godfather which only showed how far they had come from their first meeting. Clint was playing slap jack with Tony which they had somehow turned into a drinking game involving shots of eggnog.

Steve watched all of the activity but still felt a bit apart from it. He liked the tower but it was all still so foreign to him. Everything was voice activated or touch activated or electronic. Even the house keys were some kind of credit card instead of a real key.

"Hey soldier, whacha thinkin' about?"

Steve turned to see Darcy smiling up at him. Steve felt his lips twist up at the sight of her. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He still couldn't believe that she had agreed to go out with him. At first it had felt a bit light dating a girl from another country. The number of pop culture references she made were truly astronomical. But over time they had learned each other by heart. Darcy showed him her favorite movies and read his email to him while they lay in bed on lazy Sunday mornings. Steve showed her all of the old buildings that were still around from his time, igniting a surprising love of architecture in her. He taught her to ice skate and play baseball. The former she was pretty good at and the latter she was fairly terrible at but liked it all the same. He pulled himself out of his reverie to answer her.

"Just watching all the activity."

Darcy's eyes took on the look that meant she understood what he wasn't saying. He loved that about her.

"Hey guys," Clint called, getting everyone's attention. "It's Christmas Eve. Are we going to open one present tonight?"

"Oh yeah!" Tony seconded as the whole group congregated around the tree.

"Wait," Darcy said, putting her hand on Steve's arm to stop him from picking a present, "I have one I want you to open." With that she half crawled under the tree to retrieve a small, brightly wrapped box with a large gold bow on the top. With a surprisingly shy smile, she handed it to her boyfriend.

Steve turned his attention to untying the festive ribbon, completely missing how all of the Avengers had turned their attention to him with knowing looks. Finally ripping the paper off he opened the palm-sized box the find a business card inside.

"Josie Stronghold, realtor?" he read turning a questioning gaze on his lover.

"You were talking about wanting a place that was just you. I thought we could start looking on Monday. Together," she said with a light blush.

Steve's smile lit up the room as he pulled Darcy to him and kissed her thoroughly, "Together. A new beginning for us."

Darcy snuggled up against him and nodded, "A new beginning."


	3. Companion: Avengers

Hanging around with living gods seemed pretty cool to Darcy. She got her six credits for her poly-sci degree and a job as Tony Stark's personal assistant. She thought she got it because she was good at keeping scatterbrained scientists fed and watered but, based on Tony's reputation, her rack probably also had something to do with it. When she wasn't playing nanny or gofer for Tony she was spending time with Jane and Thor in their suite in the Avengers Tower. They had moved her in with them shortly after she took the job with Stark. Thor needed help adjusting to the modern world and Darcy's poly-sci degree was surprisingly useful for that.

What she and Jane hadn't expected was the...side effects. Darcy was the first to notice the strange flickers of movement at the edges of her vision. Always around someone else but never anything concrete. More like the dark spots you get after staring at a light too long. As the weeks passed the flickers became shapes and the shapes slowly took on substance. Darcy was just beginning to _really _worry about her sanity when she heard Jane scream bloody murder from the bathroom.

She and Thor both raced into the room, literally taking the door of the hinges to find Jane staring as a small jewel-bright hummingbird that was flitting around her. She turned wide, frightened eyes on her would-be saviors, "Do you see that?"

Darcy felt simultaneous relief that she wasn't the only one seeing things and concern for her best friend. She nodded mutely.

"My Jane, what ails you? Your spirit seems in health and yet you show fear," Thor said, carefully kneeling beside his love.

She looked Thor in the eyes, her voice trembling, "I-I'm seeing things. Animals...everywhere."

Thor looked puzzled by her admission. Which was better than looking like his girlfriend had just gone nuts but wasn't exactly the reaction that Darcy expected.

"But of course, my love. They are the shadows of your souls. Your spirits conjured into life. It is how all mortals look."

Darcy's jaw dropped wide, "Back it up, Six-pack. Are you saying that you _always_ see animals with people? Like all the time?"

Thor turned to look at Darcy, "It is how all Aesir see mortals. We have the gift of sight. I had not thought that you would also have this gift as it is blood born."

Darcy was trying to puzzle that out when Jane's more scientific brain kicked into high-gear.

"Thor! Darcy and I have both been exposed to your blood. Remember, New Mexico? You almost dying? Darcy and I were the ones that patched you up."

Darcy remembered Jane gently kissing some of the injuries Thor had taken, willing him to be alright while Darcy pressed on one of the wounds with her bare hands, keeping it closed until his natural healing ability could kick in. She couldn't remember getting any of it in her mouth but she was pretty banged up. It was likely that it got all over her open cuts.

"So is that how it's gonna be now? We're gonna see the world through Dr. Dolittle eyes?" Darcy asked.

"Darcy, turn your brain back on. Of course that's what it means," a voice said from just behind her. Darcy turned to find a small bright yellow bird flitting about her head. A _talking_bird.

"Aaaand now I'm in Narnia," she groused.

"Don't be so sour," the distinctly male voice replied. And how did a bird manage to frown at her?!, "You live with a God, work for a billionaire genius and regularly hang out with superheroes. This isn't the weirdest thing that has happened to you. I'm Adrastos."

Darcy had to agree, and wasn't that saying something about her life? Then she grinned, "Bets on what animals everyone upstairs has?" she asked Jane. That got the scientist out of her shock and they quickly made bets, excluding Thor because he had seen all of the animals, which he called Fylgja or Daemons, before.

They all bundled into the elevator for the short ride to the 'common room' floor of the tower. Thor introduced his Daemon as Tanngrisnir and Jane found out her Daemon was called Ossiande.

Darcy won by correctly guessing Tony's monkey (a red gibbon) and Bruce's cat (a pretty grey housecat with bright green eyes). Jane guessed Clint's mountain lion. Neither of them guessed Natasha's marten or Steve's mongoose. Darcy had bet on a golden retriever while Jane had chosen an eagle. Oddly both of them thought the Mongoose was right for him with its loyal demeanor and ability to take a beating and stand back up.

It took them quite a while to explain to the others why they began pointing at, as far as the others could see, absolutely nothing and then exchanging money. In the end Thor had to explain with Darcy giving pop-culture references and Jane positing on the science behind it. As they all sat around thinking about this new development Tony got a strange look in his eye.

"Um, you've taken a few beatings around us too Big Guy. Are we gonna..." he trailed of and wiggled his fingers to indicate seeing things. Darcy felt her face split in a huge grin.

"Oh, this is going to be fun!" Adrastos chirped with glee. Darcy couldn't agree more.


End file.
